Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly

Friends,  

From June 27 – July 2 many of our fellow Presbyterians gathered in Milwaukee for the 227^th General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I will offer some (only some) of the things that took place there, with links if you want to explore anything further. 

 

1. Structure: Over the last four years, a “Unification Commission” has been working to unify two branches of the church that were previously separated: The Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The new, unified entity will be called “Presbyterian Life & Witness” (PLW). PLW will be led by the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Executive Director and Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, to support synods and presbyteries, leader development, reparative justice, life of the communion, and strategic partnerships. For more information, visit this portal. 

 

2. Mission: Going into the GA meeting, there were a lot of deep feelings about actions that led to the elimination of the PCUSA World Mission program and the termination of all appointed Mission Co-Worker positions back in March of 2025. Both the decision itself and the execution of the decision were under strong criticism by former mission co-workers. In the end, the GA passed a motion 396-98 to form a 7-person Commission to review the decision-making process dating from 2018 that led to the actions of March 2025. The group will offer an interim report in 2028 and a final report in 2030 GA meeting. (You can read the full motion here.) The purpose of the commission is “to be restorative, not punitive” but it may contain recommendations to appropriate bodies about terminating employees.  The PCUSA now has an office of Global Ecumenical Partnerships, which you can explore here.

 

3. Israel/Palestine: After hearing the impassioned testimony of Palestinian-America, Fahed Abu-Akel, Moderator of the GA in 2002, the GA voted 454-15 declaring that the government of Israel has violated the international law prohibiting genocide in its war in Gaza. If you do not have a subscription to The Presbyterian Outlook, you can read 3 articles for free, and I recommend this one to see what this action entails. 

 

4. Christian Nationalism: By a vote of 458-18, commissioners approved a motion asking the denomination’s 164 presbyteries to ratify new Book of Order language affirming the church’s commitment to justice, peace, mercy, and human dignity while rejecting “any ideology that seeks to establish Christianity as a privileged or dominant force through the power of the state, or that conflates religious identity with national, racial, or ethnic supremacy.” The GA also directed the denominational leadership to take an active role in making sure the ideology is truly understood by issuing “a joint statement calling attention to the dangers and distortions of Christian Nationalism as an urgent theological and social concern of our time.” The San Jose Presbytery authored the resolution describing Christian Nationalism as “a dangerous and increasingly pervasive ideology that seeks to merge national identity with Christian identity, distorting both faith and politics” that “contradicts the foundational commitments and public witness of our church: love, equality, inclusion, peace, religious freedom and the imago dei [image of God] of all beings.”

 

5. LGBTQIA: There were several actions taken by the GA and appropriate groups regarding LGBTQIA matters. The GA voted to support gender-affirming healthcare and to let congregations signal their openness to calling an LGBTQIA+ pastor on their Ministry Discernment Profile when searching for a pastor. 

 

Of course there were many more motions, referrals, heated debates, affirmative conversations, and worship moments throughout the GA meeting that space will not allow me to cover (and the breadth of which does not allow me to comprehend.) Some of the links I have provided can lead you to more information and I’m happy to explore other things with you if you want. Overall, the work of GA is passionate and difficult, but I found this GA to be particularly focused on speaking prophetically, both outwardly and inwardly, as God moved them. For that I am thankful.

 

Mark of St. Mark

What to the Christian is the Fourth of July?

 

Friends, 

 

This weekend will be quite the celebration throughout the US. It is not my intention to be a wet blanket, but I must confess my ambiguity over the 250^th birthday of the US’s declaration of Independence from Great Britain. A few years ago, on the weekend of Independence Day, I spoke about Frederick Douglass’ astounding reflection, “What, to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” After worship it turned out that one of Douglass’ descendants was visiting with us and he thanked me for it. Since that time, I have made it a discipline to read it annually. Again, it is not for the purpose of being a killjoy, but because a key part of the Christian journey is to be committed to truth, especially when it is easier to be swept up with enthusiasm. 

 

When Douglass asked what the Fourth of July meant to a slave, he leaned on the important issue of perspective in our observance. The irony of an enslaved person hearing their owners and taskmasters celebrating independence is thick. It is part of the enduring power of sin that those who are set free easily become oppressors. It was a temptation that God addressed repeatedly when the People of Israel were entering the Promised Land. In the words that will be part of our focus for the month of July, God says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:4-5).  Then God commands the people to bind those words on their hearts and their heads – making it both part of their thinking and their feeling. Then, comes this warning: “When the LORD your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors … and when you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” For the next four chapters, God recounts the ways that God had been faithful in bringing the people through the wilderness to the good land, and how they had repeatedly put God to the test. Now, the challenge would not be their scarcity and fear, but their abundance and forgetfulness. 

 

“Remembering” is not just a sweet feeling in the heart. It has ethical teeth, such as when God says, “You shall also love the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Deut. 10:19). God was not being a wet blanket, but was urging them to see their prosperity as “blessings” – gifts to be received with thanks and shared with joy. 

 

So, to paraphrase Mr. Douglass, “What to the Christian is the Fourth of July?” It is certainly a cause for celebration. It is a time to be thankful that we have freedom of expression and can practice faith without restraints from the state or an “official” religious body. It is a time when we can look around us and see the diversity of cultures, languages, histories, and journeys that gather in the US as a bouquet of beauty. There is much to celebrate. But there is much to remember. 

 

We remember the displacement and massacre of Native Americans, sanctioned in part by the “Doctrine of Discovery,” whereby the church blessed taking land, forcing migrations, coercing conversions, and sanctioning executions.  We remember how, in 1619, the first African slave ships came to Comfort Point, off the coast of my hometown of Hampton, VA, starting a three-centuries-long practice of slavery that was supported by the “founding fathers” and given license by the church. We remember the “Trail of Tears.” We remember the appropriation of lands that were once considered part of Mexico and are now the hotspots of immigration enforcement. We remember the era of Jim Crow laws that tried to institutionalize separation based on racial identity. We remember segregated schools, water fountains, and the lynching tree. We remember the exploitation and oppression of Chinese railroad workers. We remember Japanese internment camps. We remember exceptions to workplace and minimum wage standards when applied to farmworkers. We remember the Tulsa massacre. We remember Stonewall Inn and The Pulse Nightclub shootings. We remember neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville and repeated school shootings. We remember George Floyd and the cloud of witnesses victimized for being black. Rather than trying to erase these hard truths about the American story, we should teach them to our children, bind them on our head and heart, to remember in hopes of achieving “Never again.” 

 

What, to the Christian, is the Fourth of July? Unlike the triumphalistic “will to power” that is espoused by so many Christian Nationalists, this weekend calls us to two things. It is a time to celebrate what is good and noble; and to remember what is difficult but still true about our nation’s brief history. Remembering our ambiguous history is the key to living into a future of doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly before our God. 

 

Mark of St. Mark 

World Refugee Day

 Friends, 

 

Tomorrow, June 20, is “World Refugee Day,” an international day designated by the United Nations to honor people who have been forced to flee their native home due to conflict or persecution. 

 

Consider the precarious nature of a refugee. Our history has shaped us so that much of our identity lies in the nation-state of our birth. Upon birth, we get “birth certificates” – official papers distributed by the state. We have “citizenship,” with all the consequent rights and protections, based on where we live. We apply for “passports” that offer us recognition as we travel abroad. Simply telling someone that we are “American,” or “Indonesian,” elicits presumptions about what we might be like, simply because of that identity. 

 

A refugee is someone for whom that system of protection and identity has broken down. Last week, Kate Forer told us the story of how her family came to the US fleeing the Armenian genocide. After worship, I heard from several folks who had similar stories in their families – refugees who made their way to the US often with little more than hope to survive; refugees who arrived utterly dependent on a different country to recognize them, welcome them in some way, and to permit them to make a new life here. Since their “Civil Rights” have been taken away, the question becomes whether other countries would honor their “Human Rights.”  

 

Being a refugee is one kind of challenge; responding to refugees is another. When the People of Israel left Egypt, they were landless, so everywhere they went posed a danger. If they passed a field of wild oats, could they harvest some for themselves, or would local folks consider that robbery? If they encountered a spring of fresh water, could they fill their water skins without being attacked? The stories of God providing manna from heaven and water from a rock are specifically tied to that period when the people of Israel were in between a situation in Egypt that they could bear no longer and their own land with their own fields and cisterns. The first challenge they faced was survival, and God provided for them. 

The second challenge was equally difficult. It was the challenge of forgetfulness. As they were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God warned them, “When you have eaten your fill, take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). “Forgetting the Lord” is an ethical and spiritual challenge for secure folks. When God commanded the people to leave the edges of their fields unharvested for the sake of the widows, orphans, and aliens, that command was always punctuated, with the reminder, “For you were once aliens in a foreign land.” 

 

Much of the “Christian Nation” mythology that many advocate today mishandles remembering. When God commanded the People of Israel to remember, it was not “Remember you are special, not them.” It was “Remember, I blessed you, so you bless them.” World Refugee Day invites us to remember that when a people’s identity and consequent civil rights are broken, we still honor their inherent identity and human rights as God’s children. 

 

So, allow me to make a plea. Since seeking refuge is a subset of immigration more broadly, I want to invite you to consider joining our October 2-4 trip to the US/Mexico border. We need informed and compassionate voices in our public conversation about immigration, and this trip offers us a way to join that conversation more fruitfully. You can find information here. And if you are interested in being part of the trip, I need to know by July 12, so please send me a note here. And please note that the Mission Commission has set aside money for anyone who is interested but would welcome financial assistance. I cannot think of a better way for us to observe World Refugee Day than to commit to learning more about the challenges facing those at our own borders. 

 

See you in worship, 

Mark of St. Mark

 

 

Women in the Pulpit - an Emphatic "Yes!"

 Friends, 

Last weekend we began our “Living the Great Stories” summer theme with a lot of interest and enthusiasm. This Weekend is going to be full, especially on Sunday with the Blood Drive, the choir’s last anthem and the handbell ensemble’s last offering before their summer breaks. And on both Saturday and Sunday we will see a delightful video that Bridget Duffin put together with the information Pastor Hayes collected, honoring our graduates. And Kate Forer will be preaching on the story of Hagar. It will be marvelous.

 

This week, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) met and drilled down into nonsense. Back when I was in college, I served as the Youth Minister at a Southern Baptist Church in Georgia. They were a wonderful congregation and the pastor was a very good mentor for me, since I was an enthusiastic but not particularly wise. During that time, I learned how the SBC worked, as a “cooperative,” where individual church autonomy was respected within the collective work of the larger group (missions, seminaries, etc.). It was a way of organization that many Baptists deeply appreciated. Then came what some called “the Fundamentalist takeover” of the late 1980’s. Seminary professors faced the threat of losing their position if they did not ascribe to a certain, narrow view of biblical inspiration. Individual churches were ousted (in some way, I’m not sure how), because they did not hold to a certain standard of doctrine or practice. As many upset Baptists told me, the church they once loved had become unrecognizable, because of the insistence of a few leading voices. For some time it has been evident that the takeover has succeeded. 

 

The vote this week was to strengthen the SBC’s prohibition on women as church leaders and preachers, voting decisively to add language to its constitution clarifying that its churches do not “affirm, appoint or endorse” women as pastors. And it was not even close. The vote had to be a supermajority (66%) and was closer to 75%. 

 

Honestly, it is hard to believe that this continues to be a matter of conversation, much less that a 75% majority would vote to prohibit women from preaching or serving as pastors. After speaking with a number of delegates, Ruth Graham of the New York Times wrote, “Supporters of the constitutional amendment argued that firmer procedures were necessary, because the acceptance of women pastors often precedes broader theological and cultural shifts to the left, including the acceptance of homosexuality.” As one person put it, “You’re never more than one year away from drift.” 

 

It feels heroic and faithful to draw lines and say, “This side is God’s side; that side is the world’s side.” There are even times when lines should be drawn. It just seems odd to me that gender roles, sexual orientation, and gender identity have become in so many Christian people’s minds the topics on which those lines must be drawn. Jesus spoke so much more about hate, violence, hypocrisy, retribution, and self-righteousness as his topics of great concern. 

 

This year, October 26 will be the 70-year anniversary of when the Cayuga-Syracuse Presbytery ordained Margaret Towner as a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Southern Presbyterians – a separate but sister organization until 1983 – ordained Rachel Henderlite at All Souls Presbyterian Church in 1965. I do not say this as a note of self-congratulations. As early as 1889 the Nolin Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (another sister organization) ordained Louisa Woosley to be a minister, but the Cumberland denominational leadership refused to recognize her ordination. Women’s ordination has been a rocky and strongly deliberated journey for many Christian denominations, and of course the Roman Catholic Church continues to have robust conversations over it. 

 

It’s an interesting thing. Once we accept the ordination of women, of the LGBTQ community, of non-cis-gender persons, and begin to see how powerfully God equips and uses them, it is usually just a small matter of time before we begin asking, “What were we thinking?” And until our siblings are able to see a better light, we repent for all of those persons whose gifts and passions we will not be able to receive. 

 

When we attend worship at St. Mark, we are re-affirming your own commitment to being faithful to the God whose gifts were poured out on “each” and “all” on the day of Pentecost. Come, let us worship the God of abundance together.

 

Mark of St. Mark

Summer Series at St. Mark

Friends, 

 

And just like that, the summer months are upon us. Congratulations to those who have completed a year or an entire course of study. Congratulations to those who are getting a well-deserved break. Congratulations to those who continue to work but are taking some time off for rest and restoration. Everybody needs Sabbath rest, and there’s just something about the rhythm of summer that is delightfully different. 

 

The Rhythm of our church life is also different during the summer. Many of our commissions will take at least one month off from their usual meetings. Sunday School teachers have a break until mid-September. The choir will take a well-deserved break from June 14 until after Labor Day. And we will have a specific theme of Intergenerational worship that begins this week. I am pretty excited about it and I think you will be also.

 

We will also spend the summer exploring ways to invite children into worship more fruitfully. Starting on June 20, we will have two tables in “The Well” where children in kindergarten through 3^rd grade are welcome to come and find quiet ways to (let’s be honest here) … endure the sermon on Saturdays and Sundays. On Sunday mornings, children younger than kindergarten age are welcome to go to the nursery throughout the summer. And children and Youth are encouraged to participate in worship in various ways. They will have opportunities to work with our ushers and greeters; lead parts of our liturgy; help serve communion alongside of our elders; and occasionally help with an interactive way of telling the biblical story. (We’ll start that this week!) 

 

We will hear a lot of songs this summer that are less complicated, easier to sing, and sometime repetitive, so the younger portion of the church will have a better chance of joining in. We’ll also repeat some songs from week to week, in order to help each other build a repertoire of good music. We are aiming for simpler, more inviting ways to say important and meaningful things. It’s all part of being an inclusive church and a bit of a learning curve for those of us who plan worship. 

 

Our summer theme is “Living the Great Stories.” We will visit and revisit many of the great stories from the Old Testament, some of which will be very familiar to you, some less so, but all of them have great meaning that we will explore together. And for each month, we will have a key scripture text, which we will call a “lifeline,” that will express who we are called to be as the body of Christ. 

 

For June, our Key Scripture is Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God?” We will express that Key Scripture through songs and liturgy, as we will explore stories about Manna, Hagar, Balaam’s Donkey, and David and Goliath. So, for example, our closing song throughout the month of June will have the lyrics, “When you walk from here, when you walk from here: Walk with justice, walk with mercy, and with God’s humble care. 

 

What a wonderful aspiration for all of us to hold as we enter these summer months.

 

See you in worship, 

Mark of St. Mark  

PENTECOST!

 It's Pentecost, y'all! Wear Red! 

As many of you know, I was raised in a Pentecostal church, with heavy emphasis on the excitement and power the story in Acts, chapter 2. For many reasons, I stepped away from the Pentecostal church but I continue to find reasons to embrace the story of the Day of Pentecost and discover new meaning in it. 

 

One of the first large decisions one makes in interpreting, embracing, and proclaiming the story of Pentecost is how to contextualize it. 

- Do we read Genesis 11 and interpret the one-ness of Pentecost as an alternative to the confusion-and-diffusion of Babel? 

- Do we read Leviticus 23 and interpret Pentecost as the fiftieth-day celebration concluding the Festival of Weeks, so it becomes a story of God's abundance? 

- Do we read Leviticus 25 and interpret Pentecost as an expression of Jubilee, with all of the redistributive justice that goes with it? 

- Do we read Ezekiel 37 and interpret Pentecost as the Divine Breath, breathing new life into the dry bones of a tragic killing field? 

- Do we read Joel 2 and interpret Pentecost as a symbol of the 'last days,' as Peter does in his sermon that follows? 

- Do we read Acts 1:1-11, and interpret the power of Pentecost as the alternative to the disciples’ view of power when the ask about "restoring the kingdom" to Israel? 

- Do we read Acts 3 and interpret Pentecost through Peter's great claim, "I have no silver or gold, but what I have I freely give you - rise up and walk"? 

- Do we read Acts 6 and interpret Pentecost through the newly invented-by-necessity office of Deacons, as a recognition of the variety of spiritual gifts? 

- Do we read about Stephen's death in Acts 7 and interpret Pentecost as the power that the early church had to give new meaning to the Greek word martyr, or 'witness'? 

- Do we read Acts 10 and interpret Pentecost through the peculiar image of a giant net/sheet/whatever, also coming down from heaven, with all manner of clean and unclean critters mixing it up, and hearing the words, "Let's eat!"? 

- Do we read I Corinthians 12 and 14 or Romans 12 and interpret Pentecost through the "one body, many parts" language of Paul's letters? 

 

My goodness! It will take a lifetime to experience the many dimensions of this story! Let’s get our red on and start exploring.

 

Mark of St. Mark

A Message from Kate Forer

 Friends,

 As promised last week, I am happily giving my Friday Extra over to Kate Forer, to introduce herself and her ministry to you a bit more. 

Happy reading! 

Mark of St. Mark

What the heck is spiritual direction? ...You might be wondering….

In response, let me ask you a few questions:

When was the last time you sat down and honestly talked to someone about your relationship with God? 

About the state of your soul?

About ways to go deeper - to grow more fully into the person God has created you to be?

About what gets in the way, for you, of being your full, true self?

If you have someone with whom you have such honest and open conversations, then that is wonderful. But most of us don’t. And many of us have never even thought to ask those questions in the first place. 

Spiritual direction is an ancient Christian practice that allows an individual to explore their spiritual life with a seasoned companion. So much of our life is lived busily on the surface - we go to our jobs, we take care of our children or our parents, we try to find time for friends and recreation - and often the deeper questions of the heart are left unattended. Spiritual Direction is a chance to attend to these matters, to fully engage in one's life, to discern how the Spirit is moving and calling. 

A few months ago I let Pastor Mark know that I was starting a spiritual direction practice (something I had dreamed of doing when I left full-time local church ministry. Just a quick aside: being a full-time senior pastor, as I was, does not leave enough time and space for these kinds of conversations with congregants - not when you have close to 300 of them). Mark quickly asked if I was interested in having office space at St. Mark. “YES!” I responded. I have been attending St. Mark off and on for several years now, and the idea of being planted within such a wonderful congregation seemed like a dream come true. 

And so here I am! I am meeting people one-on-one in my office for such conversations as mentioned above. I am looking forward to working with the St. Mark staff at some point to plan retreats (something I have done for many years and for which I have a real passion) and I’m hoping to be more involved in this lovely community. 

From two decades of pastoring, I know how hard church communities like St. Mark work. I know you are busy with your commissions and your service work - not to mention careers, kids, parents, etc. To do the work of being God’s hands and feet in the world we all need times to replenish and nurture the soul. Remember, even Jesus escaped crowds to spend time with God. I hope that I can offer a sense of nourishment and encouragement as you continue your profound work of loving and serving this broken world.

If you’d like to learn more about working with me, I invite you to visit my website: https://www.thetendedpath.org/

You can also always email me at kate@stmarkpresbyterian.org if you have any questions or suggestions.

I am so very happy (and grateful!) to be a part of you!

Blessings,

Kate